Cutter head guard for shaping machines



y 1935 s. l. HARTZELL El AL 2,008,391

CUTTER HEAD GUARD FOR SHAPING MACHINES Filed Sept. 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I.

I N VE N TOPS SAMUEL I. HHRTZELL Ln BERT FRANKE 5) 0mm rm/ways July 16, Q s T L ET AL 2,008,391

vCU'ITER HEAD GUARD FOR SHAPING MACHINES Filed Sept. 1'7, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOHS;

LAMBERT FR NKE Y m H TTORNE Y5 SAMUEL I. HHRTZELL Patented July 16, 1935 CUTTER HEAD GUARD roasnamive- 1 onmns- Samuel'I. Hartzell and iialnbert Frankie,

' St.'Louis,'Mo.' I Application September 17, issaseriai no. 744,276 5 Claims." (or. 144-451) This invention relateslto cutterhead guards. for shaping machines, and has for its-main ob-' ject to provide a cutterhead guard of simple design that moves automatically into'an inactive 5 or inoperative position when the work is being fed to the cutter head, and at the completion of the cuttingv operation, returns automaticallyto its normal position, wher'einit acts as a shield or housing for the. knives or other shaping devices of the machine. x V Another object is to provide a cutter 'head guard of the kind mentioned, that can-bead justed easily to adapt it tocutter heads ofdiffer-l ent diameters and also to providefor variations in the distancethat the workoverhangs or projects beyond the edge of. the gig to which the work is fastened. Other objects and desirable features of our invention will fibelhereinafter pointedout. U. Figure 1- of the drawings is a side. elevational view of my improved cutter. head guard,showing the shield or housing member in itsno'rmal operative position. I

Figure 2 is a top plan viewof theapparatus shown in Figure 1. H .Figure 3 is aside-elevational view, showing; the shield or housingmember in itsraisedi'or inactive positionyand I l; .Figure leis a horizontal sectional. view, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. V V on In the accompanying drawing-s which illustrate the preferred form of our inventin,' A designates the cutter head of a wood shaping machine, which cutter head may be ofany suitableorpre- 35 ferred construction, B designates a member that acts as a guard, shield or housing for the'cutter head, and 'C designates the work table of the machine. The guard or housing member B is herein illustrated as consisting of a semi-circularshaped shell, disposed vertically in frontaof the cutter head and arranged so that it normally incloses or partially incloses said cutter head, as shown in Figure 1. During the operation of feeding the work a: to the cutter head the guard B moves automatically into an elevated or inactive position, as shown inFigure'3, so as to permit the work to be moved into sufliciently close proximity to the cutter head-to cause the knives of same to acton the work. At the completionxof 50 the cutting operation, the guard B returns auto= matically to its normal position shown in Figure 1. Various means may be used to support and actuate the guard B,.but we prefer to mount the guard B slidingly on a vertically-disposed guidel attached to a horizontally-disposed support Zcarried by an upright 3 which projects upwardly from the table of the machine. The semi-circularshaped shell that constitutes the guard B is provided at its upper end with a bearing 4 that slides on. the guide I, the hole in said bearing through which. saidguide passes having walls of sufiicient area to eifectivelyhold the guard B in a vertical position and preventing it from tilting or wobbling.

- Theactuating mechanism for the guard B pref erablycomprisesa lever D carried by the upright 3"andpivotal1y connected to the bearing 4 on the guard .orhousing member B, a reciprocating slide E arranged above the work table and adapted to be moved in one directionby pressure exerted on thenfronti end of said slide by the "jig y which carries the work, anda lifter F interposed be tween :thesllde E, and lever D, and provided at its lowerend with. a roller 5 that co-acts with a cam or inclined surface 6 on the topside of the slide E. Said slide is moved in the reverse direction orrestored to its normal position'by a weight, sprmgiorsimilarnmeans, and the guard B and levezaD aresoproportioned that gravity will cause said guard tomove downwardly back to its former position as soon as the pressure of the jig onthefront end of the slide E is removed.

' -.As shownfiin the drawings, the lever D is pivotally attachedrat I to the upper end of the upright 3,1: and said: lever is provided at its front end Iwith/a yoke. .8 that straddles the bearing 4 andis pivotally connected to same by laterallyprojecting. pins 9 on said bearing which project into elongated slots I 0 in the side pieces of the yoke 8.1 Inorder. to assist in the upward move- 'ment of the guardB, a counterbalancing weight II is adjustably mounted on the opposite end of the leverD. The slide E, previously mentioned,

'is'zprovided atits front end with a yoke-shaped portionl2; that is engaged by the jig y during the 0perati0n:'of feeding the work to the cutter head, 'saidlyoke-shaped portion l'2 being slidingly mounted above the collar l3 onthe table 0 of themaohine, up through which the supporting shaft of the cutter head projects. At the front end of said yoke-shaped portion 12 is a convexed surface that is used asa guide for the jig y during the cutting operation. Consequently, when the jig y with the work :2: thereon is moved over the table of the machine towards the cutter head A, the guard B starts to move upwardly as soon as the work carrying jig engages the front end-10f theslide E,-and continues to move upward 1y"intorthe position shown in Figure 3' while the work is being brought within range of the knives or shaping devices on the cutter head. In feeding the work to the cutter head the operator merely moves the jig y rearwardly until the convexed front end portion of the slide E comes into vertical alignment with the curved outer edge of the collar l3 on the table of the machine, and during the shaping operation the jig y is held in engagement with both the collar I3..and the. converged front end of the slide E, with the result that the guard B will be maintained in its elevated'orinactive position during the cutting operation. .As

soon as the operator releases the pressure on the through elongated slots 26 in the side piece of front end of the slide E, saidlslide-moves' for;

Wardly under the influence of one or more springs I4 or an equivalent means attached to the rear end of same, and the guard B 'dro'ps downwardly to its normal operative position, the shock on the upper end portion of the'guard'B being absorbed when said guard reaches its extreme lowermost position by means of a buffer 15 attached work to the cutter head, causes the guard B to move upwardly high enough to clear or expose the cutter head, and at the completion of the shaping, operation, when the rearward pressure on the front end of. the slide E is removed, the guard B drops back automatically to. its normal position. In the form of our invention herein illustrated the slide E is guided partly by the upright 3 that has an opening in 'same through which the rear end portion of the-slide E projects, and partly by guide pins 16 on the collar l3 that project upwardly throughelongated slots H in the side pieces of the yoke-shaped front end portion 12 of said slide. j

The lifter F, previously referred to, is arranged vertically on the front side of the upright 3 and V is retained in position by a bearingtorstrap 1.8

on said upright. Said, lifter passes upwardly through a slot or opening in the horizontallydisposed supportingmember 2, and at the extreme upper end of said lifter is av roller 19 that'bears against the underside, of the lever.fD. In .order purpose consistingof a stop 2| on the rear end portion of the slideE, which strikes against the roller 5 during the forward movement of the slide, said stop being provided with a concaved front edge that mergesinto the cam surface 6 and co-actswith same to form a notch in the op side of the slide in which the roller 5 is positioned when the guard or housing member B is in its normal operative position. I

In order that the guard Band its actuating apparatus may. be used with cutter heads of different diameters, the upright 3 is attached to a base plate 22 that .isadjustably mounted on the table C of the machine in such a way that said upright can be adjusted towards and-away from the cutter head A. Thus, as shown in Figures 2 and i, the base plate 22 isv retainedin position by means of clamping screws 23 on the. table of the machine that passthrough elongated slots 24 the position of said lever.

the base plate. When the screws 23 are released, the upright 3 and all the parts sustained or carried by same may be moved forwardly or rearwardly to vary the distance between the guard B and the axis of rotation of the cutter head. We also prefer to construct the slide E in such a way that the front end portion l 2 of same may be adjusted longitudinally to vary the length of the slide, and in the form of our invention herein illustrated, this is attained by clamping the yokeshaped member I2 to the rear end portion of the slide, by means of clamping screws 25 that pass the'yoke-shaped member [2.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

'1. A cutter head guard for shaping machines,

comprising a guard member that normally houses or shields the cutter head, a lever for raising and lowering said guard member, a horizontally-movable slide arranged above the work table of the machine in the path of movement of the work andadaptedto move bodily with the work. under the influence of the pressure employed to feed the work to the cutter head, and a mechanical means operated by said slide for moving and controlling the position of said lever.

2. A cutter head guard for shaping machines, comprising a vertically-movable guard member arranged'so as to normally shield or guard the cutter head of the machine, a standard that pro jects upwardly from the table of the machine,'a lever on said standard for raising and lowering said guard member, a horizontally-movable slide arranged above the work table of the machine in the path of movement of the work and adapted to move bodily with the work under the influence of the pressure employed to feed the work to the cutter head, and a vertically-movable lifter actuated bysaid slide for moving and controlling 3. A cutter head guard for shaping machines, comprising a vertically-movable guard member that normally shields or houses the cutter'head of the machine, a counterweighted lever for raising and lowering said guard member, a horizontally-movable slide arranged above the work tableof the machine in the path of movement of the work and adapted to move bodilywith the work under the influence of the pressure employed to feed the work to the cutter head, a lifter interposed between said slide and lever, and a cam on said slide for actuating said lifter.

4. A cutter head guard for shaping machines, comprising a member for. housing or shielding the cutter head, a standard on the table of the machine, .a. vertically-disposed guide carried by 7 said standard, a bearing on said housing member slidingly mounted on said guide, a lever on said standard pivotally connected to said bearing for raising and lowering the housing member, a horizontally-movable slide arranged above the work table of the machine in the path of movement of the work and adapted to move bodily with the work under the influence of the pressure employed tofeed the work to the cutter head, and a vertically-movable lifter on said standard interposed between said lever and slide and provided with a roller that co-acts with an inclined surface on said slide. I

5. A cutter head guard for shaping machines, comprising a member that houses or shields the cutter head of the machine, actuating lever for, raising and lowering said housing membena horizontally-movable slide arranged above the work table of the machine in the path of movement of the work and adapted to move bodily with the work under the influence of the pressure employed to feed the work to the cutter head, said slide being provided at its front end with an adjustable part that is adapted to be engaged by the jig to which the work is attached, a return spring for said slide, and a mechanical means for transmitting movement from said slide to said lever.

SAMUEL I. HARTZELL. LAMBERT FRANKE. 

